The Obsidian
by MoonyWolfGem
Summary: A once-beautiful topaz was infected by and survived a deadly virus that changed her into an obsidian. But somehow, she starts regaining her memories and slowly changes back. Author's Note: I hope you enjoy this story as much as I loved writing it. I had a lot of fun!
1. Prologue

Long ago, she had been a beautiful Topaz. With a fierce, fiery temper and a desire to protect her friends, she was adored by many gems. But then, _it happened._ The virus.

The virus was the only known virus that could infect gems. Very few ever survived. There was no cure, and there had been no previous cases of complete recovery, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen. The Obsidian Virus attacked the gem directly, either driving the gem insane, or massively affecting the personality, turning them very cruel and evil, and erasing their memories and their ability for mercy. Topaz had been the latter. But that's not all the virus did to you. It started turning your gem black. And your tears became black acid, as well as any blood you gave off. Most likely, your gem would eventually crack and you would die. But not Topaz.

Her gem had turned completely black, and it seemed as if it would crack. But it didn't. She was almost insane, and about to kill her best friend, Spinel. "Please, this isn't you, Topaz!" she begged. Topaz, with wide eyes and a crazy grin, only laughed. "There is no more Topaz," she hissed. "I am Obsidian!"

And so began the wrath of Obsidian, the tainted gem, who was once beautiful and protective, now a wild, bloodthirsty, maniac who gave no mercy and lived only to kill.

But don't think that's all. Tainted she may have been, something struggled within her to find its way out. To restore her to what she used to be. For a long time, it never managed to escape. But one day, things started to change. And Topaz began to resurface, little by little.


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

Obsidian laughed as the gem struggled under her hand. It was a puny Kyanite that had been sent on some mission. Obsidian closed her hand tighter around the gem's throat, a wild grin of pleasure on her face.

"P... please... Let me... let me go..." begged the small gem. Her struggle got weaker and weaker as Obsidian proceeded to crush her windpipe.

"Oh, am I hurting the poor baby?" Obsidian teased. She cackled. "You want me to let you go?"

The Kyanite nodded. She feebly scratched at Obsidian's arm with her hand.

"Well, I don't want to." Obsidian quickly pulled out a knife from the coal-black gem on her forehead. As she prepared to stab the Kyanite, a strange bolt of pain shot through her. She didn't know what was happening, but a strange image of a gem remarkably like her, but bright orange, helping a Kyanite during a fight flashed through her mind. Obsidian gasped as it brought more pain. The Kyanite, still in her hand, began to struggle harder, confused, but sensing an opportunity to escape. Obsidian dropped her, moaning in agony, then lashed out in pain.

The tip of the dagger caught the Kyanite just as she was preparing to run. It made a deep gash in her arm, which caused her to scream in pain. But she wasted no time in getting away.

Obsidian, gasping for breath, finally felt the pain fade away. More images, similar to the first, slowly flashed through her mind. Then it stopped. She felt as if she had seen those before, but couldn't quite tell from where. Alien feelings flashed through her body. For some reason, she didn't quite feel like chasing down that Kyanite and killing her. A dulling headache radiated from her gem, making her dizzy.

"What... the hell... was that?" Obsidian said aloud. Wobbly on her feet, she stumbled off in the direction of her base. On her way there, she passed a clear, glassy lake that was almost like a mirror. Most days, she wouldn't have stopped, because it was beneath her to care about such things. But something caught her eye.

A vein of orange had appeared in the black gem upon her forehead.


	3. Chapter 2: The Vision

Obsidian sat there, dumbfounded. How did this happen? Or better yet, what was happening? It seemed as if she'd suddenly regained long ago memories, or something. But this orange spot in her gem? Could it be... Suddenly, the environment changed, and she had a vision.

 **Five years ago**

Topaz was standing in that very spot, planning exactly how she would build her base, where she would come when there was a war. Of course, she'd be on the side of the Earth. Homeworld had abandoned her, why would she help them? They had called her "defective" because she had disobeyed orders one too many times. So she'd run away. Or rather, flown away in a stolen ship.

Topaz walked forward into a clearing, where _something_ lay curled up. She drew her weapon, a scythe, and moved forward carefully. The thing made a noise and moved. Topaz gripped her scythe tighter. She didn't like this. She crept forward, listening for any changes in the creature's breathing. What she didn't know is that the creature knew that she was there.

Topaz stepped on a stick, and for a strange reason, it made a rather loud sound. " _Shit,"_ she whispered. The creature slowly got up, and turned to look at her. It looked like a dragon with a black gem on its forehead. Topaz stood frozen, waiting for it to attack her. For a moment, it seemed confused. Then it rushed at her.

Topaz jumped out of the way, then slashed at the dragon, which was obviously a corrupt gem. It turned towards her, still for a very long moment. What she didn't see were the walls forming around her, keeping her from escaping. Suddenly, the dragon spat a stream of black acid in her face. Topaz screamed, but she ran forward through it, resisting the pain. With a final slash, it was gone. But Topaz felt very strange. She looked down at her weapon, which felt suddenly lighter in her hand, and realized that it had become a sickle. She sent it away, thinking nothing of it, and tried to summon her scythe. But she couldn't. What she didn't realize was that that acid had carried the virus that would later change her dramatically. This was only the first change.

 **Present Day**

Obsidian shook her head, clearing away the last fragments of the vision. That sickle... it looked a lot like her weapon. She summoned it, and tossed it from hand to hand, inspecting it. She was beginning to think her theory was true. Had she once been this Topaz? If so, how did she become an Obsidian? And why couldn't she remember any of it? All she knew was that fragments of unfamiliar memories were coming back, and Obsidian wanted to know why.


	4. Chapter 3: The Dragon

Obsidian searched her base for any trace of the gem of that corrupted creature. She went down to her vault where she kept gem shards, sure there was one whole gem. She'd never remembered how it got there, and made sure to keep it bubbled. Obsidian never shattered it, mostly because it looked like her gem a little. She'd never realized that it was what had made her this way. That acid blast had defined her near-insanity and blood lust.

For some reason, Obsidian recalled her first kill. She'd never cracked that one, either. She couldn't quite remember why. Spinel, her name was. Obsidian had put the gem on the top of a mirror she kept inside her vault. Occasionally, she looked into it, and she'd sometimes see images of the past, especially the gem's view of her own brutal killing. For some reason, memories of Spinel brought a strange feeling of guilt that hadn't been there before.

Ahh, but that didn't really matter. Obsidian was on a mission. She found the black gem, not that different from her own. Pulling up fragments of her vision of the past, she examined it from inside its bubble. It looked eerily similar. Obsidian then got an idea. A dumb idea, but an idea.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Obsidian had moved the bubble to a clearing not far from her base. She then carefully dispelled the bubble encasing the black gem, and set the stone on the ground and backed away.

Almost instantly, it began to reform. A black form took the shape of a dragon, with the gem on its brow. Once it had completely reformed, it stared Obsidian in the eye, tail lashing back and forth in displeasure.

Something about those eyes... That look was oddly familiar. The dragon... It was the same dragon from the vision Obsidian had had. She gasped. That meant... That meant her theory was true. She... She was really Topaz. And this... Her personality, her weapon, all of it was because of a virus that came from _this_ dragon. Obsidian's hands shook. Rage filled her body. Then, then the moment came.

A grin spread across her face, and Obsidian slowly summoned her weapon. The dragon snorted, and it made a growling sound. For a moment, all was still. Then Obsidian rushed at the dragon, and it tried to snap at her, but she quickly dodged, and swiped at its nose. It screeched, and pulled back, putting a claw to its nose. Then it swiped at Obsidian in anger. Obsidian laughed wildly, and jumped, landing on the dragon's leg, and ran. The creature tried to shake her off, but it only drove Obsidian madder. She leapt on to its head with a final jump, then stabbed the dragon in the eye with the sickle, enraging it.

The dragon roared angrily, and shook its head wildly. Obsidian switched her sickle out for a dagger, and with one arm strongly wrapped around one of the dragon's horns, she drove it into the gem, splitting it cleanly in two. Cackling, Obsidian raised the knife to strike again, but something deep inside her awakened, telling her this was enough.

The dragon poofed, and Obsidian gracefully landed on her feet. She picked up the two gem halves and inspected them. For some reason, it was hard to look at them. She shook her head and bubbled it, then sent it away.

Obsidian walked over to the glassy lake, and she saw that more orange had appeared in her gem. Not only that, but her left eye had turned a shade of fiery orange. She stared at her reflection for a while, pondering whether or not she should do what she was about to do. Then, she got up. Obsidian made a decision she would probably later regret.

She needed to talk to Spinel.


	5. Chapter 4: The Mirror

Obsidian walked down into the vault. She quickly found the mirror, gem on top of the frame. Obsidian gazed into the mirror as it replayed the scene of Spinel's death again. Then, it changed to an unfamiliar scene. Obsidian could hear laughter, and she saw that Spinel was walking with Topaz(she still found it difficult to call herself by that name, even though she now knew that it was her) through an old battlefield, collecting weapons. Obsidian felt her vision blurring, and she no longer stood in the gem shard vault.

 **Five Years Ago, After the Infection**

Spinel and Topaz walked through the battlefield, gathering up weapons for safekeeping. Topaz had told a joke, and they both were laughing. Topaz had not yet become corrupted, and she was still herself. For the moment.

"Oh, Topaz, be careful with your spontaneous humor. One of these days, my gem'll crack, I was laughing so hard," Spinel joked. She picked up a dagger she found, and said, "Hey, watch this!" With incredible accuracy, she threw the dagger through the air, and it slashed right through the symbol on a Homeworld flag.

"Wow. You better be careful, too. If they see you defiling their sacred crest, they'll want to kill you," Topaz warned.

"Ah, like I care what Homeworld thinks about their stupid flag." Spinel leaned over to pick something up, and something caught her eye. She swept the dust away from the glint she saw reflecting off of... A mirror? "What's this doing here, I wonder," Spinel said, curious.

"Can I have it? It'll give a little flair to my slightly boring military base," Topaz said. She noticed a hole in the golden frame where a gem may have gone. "That'll have to be fixed, though."

"I guess," replied Spinel, shrugging. "I wouldn't know what to do with it. Hey, maybe you could put one of those jewels in there, like the humans use for stuff. That would make it pretty, at least. Useless, but pretty."

"I may just do that," Topaz said, inspecting the mirror. She bubbled it to make it manageable, then sent it to her base. That could be dealt with later.

 **Present Day**

Obsidian blinked as she returned to the present, somewhat dazed. She shook away the feeling, and grabbing the gem, she yanked it free of the mirror. Almost instantly, the glass cracked, ruining the beautiful mirror.

Obsidian looked at the gem in her hand. It was shaped like an oval, and resembled a ruby in color, size, and shape. But Spinels had properties Rubies did not possess. For example, Spinels could sometimes grow small flowers, and they could not control fire. They had the ability to heal minor wounds, like maybe a scrape or a cut, but nothing like a crack in one's gem. They also could summon ribbons of red magic that calmed most gems. Unfortunately, Spinel's magic had not worked on Obsidian.

Suddenly, the gem in Obsidian's palm began to glow, and it floated into the air. The shape of a tall, slender girl formed around it, then landed gracefully. Her pale reddish skin, her strawberry-colored braided hair, her red shoes and pink leg warmers, the red jean shorts and long-sleeved red shirt that came only to the middle of her back, all of this was faintly familiar to Obsidian. The gem turned around, and the gem on her stomach reflected Obsidian's nervous look. Spinel opened her eyes, her red, peaceful eyes, and opened her mouth to speak.

"Hello, Topaz."


	6. Chapter 5: The Friend Gem

"Hello, Topaz."

* * *

"Don't... call me that." Obsidian almost couldn't bear to look at Spinel. Was it the guilt?

"Why? You know it's your name. Does it hurt?" Spinel took a step towards Obsidian, and, in turn, Obsidian stepped back in... Fear? No, something else.

"I'm just... I can't... I... I need your help to remember who I used to be." Obsidian's hands shook. She clenched them into fists to help her keep control. She absolutely couldn't lose control now.

"You want _me_ to help _you?_ You think I'd help you after what you did? You killed me. So why should I help you?" Spinel crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.

Obsidian was dumbfounded. "But... I..." Obsidian's hands shook even more. "I was..."

Spinel laughed. "But what? You trapped me in a mirror."

Obsidian could think of nothing to say. Instead, she began to cry. She had never felt sadness before. It was so strange, but the worst thing was, the tears burned. They were of black acid that left red streaks down her face. They hurt intensely. "I... I wasn't... I wasn't myself, I... I'm... I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she sobbed.

Spinel cocked her head. "Why are you crying? Of course I'll help you. I was only playing." She walked forward and placed her hand on Obsidian's shoulder. A strange feeling traveled through her body, but Spinel ignored it. "I would do anything for my friend."

The best thing about Spinels were that they were immune to the virus that had made Obsidian who she was. They couldn't cure it, sadly, but they could resist it. Spinel gladly showed off this ability by running her hand down Obsidian's face, healing the acid burns. If she hadn't have been immune, she would have been exposed to the deadly virus. But even then, it wouldn't have bothered her. Not only was Obsidian, to her Topaz, her friend, but the feeling ran deeper. Spinel had never confessed her feelings, which had made her feel horrible while she was trapped in the mirror.

Obsidian then did something she hadn't done intentionally since she was Topaz. She _smiled._ It wasn't one of her wild grins, nor was it one of her teasing smirks. It was a genuine smile of happiness. This emotion was alien, unfamiliar. It wasn't like the feeling she used to get when she killed. It was actual happiness. And another strange feeling. Something much more than liking a friend. Was it... Was it _love?_ "Th... Thank you." She wrapped her arms around Spinel in a hug.

Spinel returned the gesture. "I want you to be who you used to be." _I... I love you, Topaz._ "This... This isn't you. We can fix this. We can make you _remember._ "

Obsidian smiled again. "Let's begin." She could feel something happening with her gem. Obsidian couldn't see it, but she knew her gem was becoming more orange. She was becoming more Topaz. Her eyes closed. A memory from long ago replayed through her mind against her closed eyelids. It was of her first meeting Spinel. They hadn't quite started off on the right foot. But eventually, things changed, and they became friends. Obsidian became glad that Spinel had forgiven her. The best of her regained memories were the ones containing Spinel.

"Spinel, I... I have something to tell you," Obsidian said. She was almost afraid of what Spinel would say in reply.

Spinel made her decision. "I have something to tell you, too. On three?"

"On three," Obsidian agreed. "One... Two... Three!"

"I think I love you," they said in unison. Their eyes widened. They both smiled. Then they hugged again, tighter than before.


	7. Chapter 6: The Diary

Obsidian sat at the edge of the glassy lake as Spinel told some stories to her that involved her when she was still Topaz. Some awoke something inside her mind, bringing forth old memories, while others just didn't register. All in all, it wasn't really helping that much.

"I have a better idea," Spinel said. "Wait here." She got up and left to go get something.

Obsidian obeyed and sat there at the edge of the lake, waiting. Why was it so hard to just remember? All she wanted was her past. Yet it was coming back in such small pieces it would be hundreds of years before she got all of her memories back. There were gaps where something important belonged, and there were strange feelings where there were no memories to connect it to. It was just so hard.

Suddenly, while she was running her hand through the water, something sparked in Obsidian's mind. She got up and searched around the edge of the lake for something, a door handle, a hidden vault, whatever it was she had suddenly remembered.

"I couldn't find the... What are you doing?" Spinel had returned and had spotted Obsidian on the other side of the lake, sweeping dust and leaves away from something. She used her ribbons of calming to levitate across the lake and settle next to Obsidian, who had uncovered a silver door handle attached to a wooden door.

"Something... I don't know what it is, but I suddenly remembered something. There's a room down here..." Obsidian pulled the handle of the door, opening up a dark underground area. "Huh. Wonder why this came to mind."

"Maybe something's down here that'll help you remember more. I couldn't find your diary that you gave me when you figured out you were infected." Spinel looked down into the dark pit. "It's really hard to see down there..."

Obsidian involuntarily summoned a ball of fire. Spinel gasped. "Topaz... I mean Obsidian! I thought you couldn't do that anymore!"

Obsidian looked at the handful of fire she had. "I didn't know I could do that either. Maybe I'm starting to get back my powers from when I was Topaz." She started down the stairs, lighting the way. Spinel followed, a grin on her face. If Obsidian was getting back her powers from her days as Topaz, this was good. It wouldn't be long before she regained all her memories and became Topaz again.

At the bottom of the stairs, Obsidian flicked the ball of fire out into the room out of ancient habit. It went to several torches along the walls and filled the room with light. Obsidian could now see that there was an altar with a book, several chests along the wall, and a warp pad that bore a large crack in its surface, rendering it useless.

"This is your diary... Did you put all your things down here before the virus took over your mind?" Spinel stood over the book, flipping through the pages. She opened a chest, and pulled out an old helmet of Topaz's. "This is amazing!"

Obsidian shrugged, confused. "I don't know. I can't remember. Maybe I knew this would happen, so I hid all my stuff away in case I started to remember." She took the helmet from Spinel, and inspected it. Memories of the first War for Earth flowed through her mind when she wiped of the dust. Those weren't the best of memories, but at least they were memories. She sat the helmet down in the chest that carried her armor from the war. Then Obsidian walked over to read a page from her diary. She flipped open to the last entry and began to read. It said:

 ** _July 3, 2015_**

 _This may be the last time I am able to write. It's getting harder to recall the events of yesterday and today, I almost killed Jade during a simple sparring session. I fear that I have contracted the deadly Obsidian Virus, and now fear for my life. I am going to try and keep as far away from others as possible, so as not to hurt anybody else. I should not have disturbed that... what was it? I can't quite remember, but I think it was a dragon or something. The virus must have come from whatever it was. It's hard to focus, now. My gem has almost completely lost its orange coloring, and my skin is grayish. I really wish there was something I could do to stop this horrid disease, but there is nothing. So I have decided to lock all of my possessions in this stone vault. Maybe one day the old me shall resurface little by little and I can find this room to help myself remember who I used to be. Maybe Spinel can help me. I must go now. My hands are beginning to shake and it's hard to write._

 _PS. If you are reading this, Topaz, I beg you. Do everything you can to come back. Don't let the virus hold your past out of your reach. It is too important to lose forever._

 _-Topaz_

Obsidian stared at the page for what felt like forever. So she had known that she was going to become what she is. Had she known that she would later kill her best friend? Had she known people would grow to fear her because of her brutality and absence of control? Obsidian now wished she had just died and shattered instead of this. Some things she had done could not be reversed and she would remember them forever, even when she became Topaz again. A single black tear rolled down her face, burning the whole way down.


	8. Chapter 7: The Relic Room

Obsidian led the way out of the little stone room. She had let Spinel heal the scar on her face, but she could never heal the scar on Obsidian's heart. A heavy feeling weighed her down. She almost just wanted to give up, but Spinel refused to allow that to happen.

"Come on, Topaz!" She had long since given up trying to call her Obsidian. "We're almost there. Then, we can live together in peace and try as hard as we can to forget all this." Spinel made a gesture with her arms that indicated everything. "Let's go clean out that base of yours." Spinel took Obsidian's hand and led her back towards her base.

"I guess I'll take the relic room," Obsidian said, lethargically. The relic room was where she kept souvenirs of her various kills. That would definitely have to go. She'd probably make it into a storage room, like for her armor or something. But she'd never forget what the room's original purpose had been.

"I'll go get rid of the gem shards in your vault. We can put corrupt gems in there instead." Spinel wore a pleased smile. She ran off to the vault, while Obsidian walked to her relic room. There was a lot of stuff in there.

Obsidian put old armor into boxes and carried it outside. She piled weapons by gem type for a little bit of organization(Topaz had been slightly OCD), and boxed those, too. Then Obsidian spotted a rusted dagger used by an Emerald. Some kind of trance took over Obsidian and she walked towards it slowly. She lifted it, and inspected it carefully. Obsidian's eyes teared up again. If she did this, she'd never have to worry about what she had done again.

"How's it... What the hell are you doing!?" Spinel rushed forward and diverted the path of the knife as it was about to be stuck straight into Obsidian's gem. Instead, a long gash was torn in Obsidian's face. Spinel closed the wound and prepared to heal the scar.

"What were you doing? I should never have let you come down in here," Spinel said, worried and frantic. "I should have known you'd try and kill yourself."

"I just want to die!" Obsidian sobbed. "Everyone will hate me even when I'm normal again! They'll recognize my face, they'll..."

Spinel stroked her cheek with a ribbon. "Shh. It'll be okay. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Obsidian looked at her with teary eyes. "Leave the scar. I need a reminder." She had long since dropped the knife.

"Absolutely not. You don't need a reminder of any pain. I won't let you keep it." Spinel healed the scar. "As it is, you may not completely heal your gem. That's enough of a reminder."

Silently, Obsidian thanked every Earth deity she could think of for Spinel. She was the calm in Obsidian's raging storm, the clarity in Obsidian's insanity, the refuge in Obsidian's mental war. She wrapped her arms around Spinel. "It's... just so hard. I'm glad you're here."

Spinel returned the gesture and gave Obsidian a kiss on the cheek. "I'm glad I'm here for you too." She smiled. "Come on. Let's finish cleaning this room out together." Spinel picked up the knife and put it into a box. Following Obsidian's organization patterns, of course.

Obsidian picked up a pole with a crescent-shaped blade on top. She couldn't recall the name of that particular weapon, but this one nudged a memory that hadn't yet surfaced. She inspected it closer, then called Spinel over.

"Hey, isn't this yours?" Obsidian wiped the dust off of the blade. "I found it under a chest plate from someone."

Spinel took it from her gently. "It is! That explains why I couldn't summon it earlier. Thanks for finding it." She sent it away.

Obsidian smiled. "You're... welcome." The words were hard to say. It had been a while since her lips had formed those words. But Obsidian didn't care. She was beginning to embrace the return of her past. The good and the bad, all of it.

Once the last weapon and suit of armor had been cleared out, Spinel looked around the room. To Obsidian, it looked like she were making plans. Spinel turned to Obsidian.

"I have a question for you," she said. "I fixed that mirror I was trapped in. Do you want to keep it, or..." Spinel sat said mirror against the wall behind her.

"I don't know. It was pretty, but... Hey, you replaced the gem!" Obsidian placed her hand on it. "Is it one of the humans' jewelry stones?"

"Yes. I knew you'd lose it if it were one of us." Spinel picked the mirror back up. "Well? Are you going to keep it or not? I actually kind of like it, even if you trapped me in it. But I'm over that."

Obsidian shrugged. "I guess I can keep it." She hung it up on the wall and peered into it. Her gem was almost halfway orange now, and had regained a crystalline look. Obsidian touched it lightly. She was so close. A faint memory of her battling a corrupted creature played through her mind. Another, this time of her listening to some music she'd heard on a human's radio, followed. Obsidian didn't know why these random memories had returned, but she didn't question it or care. She merely leaned against the wall and let the small memories play on closed eyelids.

Spinel watched her. Obsidian seemed so peaceful. Spinel placed herself in Obsidian's position, as if she were the one recovering from a deadly virus, as if she were the one regaining her memories and her identity. She knew that she probably wouldn't be able to manage, and would have probably made an attempt at her own life as well. Spinel felt so sorry for Obsidian. It was painful to watch her in her weakest moments, but Spinel stayed to comfort her. A best friend, no, more than that, deserved that, and much more.


	9. Chapter 8: The Serpentine

After they had cleaned out the relic room and made sure all the gem shards were separated so that they could potentially be pieced back together if the opportunity presented itself, Obsidian and Spinel went back to the little stone room to bring everything out. Obsidian didn't want anything to do with the diary at that particular moment, because of the words on the las page, but Spinel insisted she read some earlier pages. "They can't be _that_ bad," she said.

"Okay, fine." While Spinel ran off to continue cleaning out the stone room, Obsidian flipped through the pages of her diary, reading. Some memories did return, but after a while, Obsidian became bored. She put the diary in the old relic room, then went to help Spinel. But something felt strange. Obsidian obtained a slight headache, then became sure something was wrong.

When she told Spinel of this, Spinel asked her, "Could you be sensing something? You were very perceptive as Topaz."

Obsidian's headache became worse. She began to hear a buzzing sound. "I think..." Visions of a strange creature flicker through her mind. Then, a loud roaring echoed through the forest. "What the hell was that!?"

"I don't know, but-!" Spinel was jerked into the air by something that looked like a giant snake with bony wings and tentacles. She screamed. "Help me!" Spinel pulled out her scythe thing and attempted to swing it at the strange creature, but her weapon was knocked from her hand.

Something took over Obsidian. "Don't touch her!" she snarled, and leapt into the air, whipping out her weapon. What she failed to notice was that it had changed into a scythe. Obsidian shot fireballs, one after another, into the creature's roaring mouth. She swung her scythe at the creature, and ended up hitting it in the eye, which enraged it further.

Spinel was dropped on the ground, where she picked up the weapon and shouted at Obsidian, who snapped out of her rage. She regrouped with Spinel, but not before she spat fire into the snake-creature's other eye, blinding it. "What's the plan?" Obsidian asked, almost jokingly. Then she finally realized her weapon had changed. "Oh, and apparently I have a scythe now."

Spinel laughed. "Ahh, there's a little more of the old you I missed." She looked at the screeching creature, who lashed back and forth, confused and unable to see. "I'll try to subdue it a little with my calming magic, and you try and take it out. Let's go!"

Obsidian nodded, then made herself some wings from fire. She remembered teasing Spinel like that, and chasing her around. But now wasn't the time for that. Spinel was doing her thing, and the lashing creature began to slow its movements. Spinel looked over at Obsidian, who rushed forward, then swung her scythe, embedding it in the creature's skull. Obsidian sent a wave of fire down the shaft of her weapon, and the creature let out a final roar. Then it poofed.

"Thank God _that's_ over." Obsidian picked up the creature's gem, a slightly cracked green Serpentine. "Poor corrupted thing." She bubbled it and sent it to her newly cleaned out gem vault. "Maybe one day we can fix it."

"Maybe. Hey look, your gem is more orange!" Spinel held up a small summoned mirror. Obsidian could see that she was right. Slowly, more orange was creeping into her gemstone. Her other eye had become fiery orange. And with the little bit more orange, more memories returned. Obsidian grinned.

"Your eye is orange, too, Obsidian!" Spinel was almost ecstatic. "This is really, really good!"

"It's not Obsidian. Not anymore." Obsidian smirked, teasingly. "My name is Topaz."

Spinel's smile couldn't be wider.


	10. Chapter 9: The Cluster and the End

Obsidian/Topaz was a little happier than usual. Since most of her memories had come back, life was easier now. But there were still a few gaps that had to be filled, otherwise confusion would ensue. But even if they didn't come back, she had Spinel to help her.

Her appearance had changed drastically. Her coal black hair was now fiery orange with streaks of black that likely wouldn't go away. Her skin had turned a pale shade of orange, like it had been before. And her gem, oh, her beautiful gem. The gem was nearly completely orange, with only a little bit of black left. Even if that stayed, Topaz wouldn't care.

There she stood, admiring the overnight transformation in her mirror, when Spinel rushed into the room, hyperventilating. "You... You've got to see this!" Then she tugged on Topaz's arm and dragged her out of the base. "This is really bad!"

Indeed, it was. Looming over the trees was what appeared to be a giant body formed of arms, legs, random torsos, and parts of faces with one big eye right above the gem in its center. This was one of the more "successful" Cluster experiments that had emerged.

"Oh no..." Topaz summoned her scythe and armor. "That _is_ bad." Something deep inside her mind reacted to this creature, this monster, this horrid creation of Homeworld. These... these things were one of the main reasons she defected from Homeworld. She trembled with rage.

"Let me try and subdue it, so you can maybe deal some damage!" Spinel gathered her ribbons.

Topaz grabbed her arm. "No. It's too dangerous. You could die." That's the last thing Topaz wanted.

Spinel looked her straight in the eye, fear written all over her beautiful features. "What do we do, then? What the hell are we supposed to do?" She had tears in her eyes, fearing Topaz's death, caring nothing of her own life.

Topaz searched through her muddled brain for any ideas. Something about dancing came up, and a memory triggered. "We could... maybe... Maybe we could fuse?"

Spinel's eyes widened. "I never thought of that! What a great idea!" She had secretly wanted to fuse with her for a long time, but had never had the chance. She didn't want to push it, either. Not after... Well, you know.

The two began to dance. Spinel's fusion dance was like ballet, while Topaz did something in between that and club dancing. Their gems began to glow. When the two ran at one another, they fused together in a burst of white light.

"This is nice." The new fusion inspected her body. Andesine, her name was. She was almost as tall as the Cluster beast, had pinkish-orange skin, pink hair with an orange stripe, a pinkish-orange t-shirt, a pair of jeans the color of peaches, sandals, four arms, four eyes, and wore armor that glistened with the rays of the setting sun.

"Okay, beastie. Let's fight," she said, and whipped out her weapon. The weapon was a sort of axe with two crescent-shaped blades, and a rather long handle.

Andesine practically flew at the Cluster, but it caught the tip of her axe and flung it away. She resumed it, and directed a mass of flaming ribbons at the beast. This continued on for about an hour, until finally, the thing managed to catch her off guard. "Haha, take that you- Oh!" From behind, the thing caught Andesine with one of its many arm things(this one had claws, for some odd reason). The fusion was forced apart, leaving Topaz and Spinel on the ground, cursing.

"Damn you!" Topaz got to her feet, then began to shoot fireball after fireball at the Cluster thing, while Spinel proceeded to wrap calming ribbons around it, even when it tore through them.

This thing was smart, though. It intended to _kill_ the pair of gems. It posed its foot(?) above Topaz, and prepared to slam it down and crush her skinny, strong frame. But Spinel saw this, and pushed Topaz out of the way, just as it's foot struck down. It caught her, crushing her body.

"No!" Topaz shouted, and tried to free Spinel. But it was far too late. The Cluster's foot had up to Spinel's neck crushed beneath it. She smiled weakly.

"I... love... you..." Then Spinel disappeared in a poof of smoke. When the Cluster raised its foot, her gem was broken cleanly into four pieces. She was... gone.

Topaz refused to accept this. When it finally sank in, a rage unlike any she'd had when she was Obsidian, or even before, filled her entire mind and body. She screamed in anger and stabbed the Cluster again and again, injecting pure lava into its deformed body. "I hate you! _I hate you!_ " She didn't stop till its gem, composed of a cluster of other gems that had been forced to do this, was shattered.

Then came the tears. When Topaz picked up the pieces of Spinel's gem, and held them in her hand, tears began to flow from her eyes. But these were no longer tears of black acid, but instead, tears she hadn't had, even before. They were of gold.

Topaz collapsed, the pieces of Spinel in her hand, crying. She lay like that for days, until finally, she were too tired to cry. She limped back to her base, and into the old relic room. Carefully, she placed the four pieces onto a little table under the mirror. A single golden tear rolled down her face. She didn't bother to bubble the gem, because she thought there was no way anything could regenerate from that.

Topaz left the room, tired, angry, deeply depressed, and grieving for Spinel. All her memories had finally returned, especially the ones containing Spinel. Those came first, which hadn't helped. All she wanted to do was die. Topaz locked herself in a room, and for the first time in her entire life, she cried herself to sleep.

She had all her memories, but at what cost? Was there any point? Topaz dreamt of Spinel. She knew Spinel wouldn't approve of her killing herself, but that's the only thing she could think of. But she resisted, and tried to think of the good memories. But it was hard not to think of the bad ones.

Spinel had helped Topaz become herself again. What had been lost in that disease from five years ago had come back. There were scars, yes, but none would be as deep as the one that was left when Spinel was killed. Topaz had loved her. It took that virus to make her realize it. But nothing could be done now, as Spinel's gem had been shattered, and there was no proven way to come back from that. Or so Topaz thought.

In the old relic room, on the little table under the mirror, the broken pieces of Spinel's gem began to glow with a soft golden light.


	11. Epilogue

It had been three years since Topaz's full memory recovery and Spinel's death. The room containing the pieces of Spinel's gem had been locked from the inside so that Topaz couldn't get in, even if she wanted to. Her appearance hadn't fully recovered, but that didn't matter to her. She thought the black streak in her hair and gem made her look tougher. Stronger.

Topaz lay by the side of the lake, staring at the night sky filled with stars. There was a group of stars that formed the shape of a girl. Topaz thought it looked like Spinel. It brought back such memories, some that nearly brought her to tears. But she stayed strong. The beautiful stars only reminded her that Spinel would tell her to be.

Topaz stood up, looking at the sky one last time before going to do what she had intended to do when she came outside, which was chase down a corrupt she'd seen the other day. It was rumored to only be able to be seen at night. Which probably meant that it was a corrupt Moonstone, or something along the lines of that. But instead of leaving, she spotted something in the sky. There was a constellation of two girls holding hands. Topaz felt a warm feeling inside, and she smiled. Then she turned to leave.

After hours of unsuccessful searching, Topaz returned. She'd find it some other time. "Damn thing, it must be really good at hiding," she said, somewhat irritated. Just after she said this, she heard a growling noise from the trees and shrubbery behind her.

Topaz carefully turned around. Two glowing silver spots about the size of softballs hovered in the tree line. She backed up, having a feeling she'd just found what she'd been looking for. The growling got louder, and _something_ leapt from the trees, over Topaz's head, and landed gracefully behind her. When she slowly turned to see what it was, it indeed was the corrupt Topaz had been hunting.

It was a giant, beautiful wolf, with a gem on its chest, and silvery fur. This was a Moonstone, just as Topaz had predicted, and it clearly wouldn't be easy to beat. Topaz found herself wishing Spinel were alive to help her, but she reprimanded herself. _She's not coming back. You can do this yourself. You are strong._

Topaz whipped out her scythe and began to fight the creature. It was incredibly difficult, because of its size, intelligence, speed, and most of all, strength. If it got its jaws around Topaz's body, she'd be bitten clean in half. So she made sure its mouth never got close to her when it reached out to bite.

Eventually, though, Topaz was overpowered. The thing suddenly became still, and the two watched each other carefully. Suddenly, as if it had become pure moonlight, the corrupt gem jumped at Topaz like a flash. She was pinned down, and her fire couldn't make the beast release her. Its head came closer and closer, as it prepared to go for the kill. It was almost as if it were teasing her. Finally, the corrupt gem's head rushed at Topaz, and...

But wait! The thing stopped moving. _What the hell? Why isn't it..._ Topaz struggled a bit. The thing seemed to be staring at something in the distance that Topaz wasn't able to see. But what? Topaz finally struggled free, which for some reason did not distract the creature, which seemed to be entranced. She turned to look at whatever it was that had caught the creature's eye, and gasped in awe.

A figure stood in the distance, glowing so brightly, it was almost blinding from where Topaz stood. She closed her eyes as the figure glowed brighter, and she heard the corrupted gem howl eerily, then disappear in a puff of smoke. The glowing began to fade, and Topaz opened her eyes to see something she thought impossible. Her hands shook, and tears of immense joy came to her eyes.

Spinel was walking towards her, seeming a bit different than she usually looked. Topaz didn't know why, nor did she care, all she knew was that somehow, some way, Spinel was alive. Topaz rushed forward to embrace her, crying.

"You were dead! Your gem was broken! How..." Topaz could barely speak, for all the sobbing.

Spinel smiled. "I don't know. The last thing I remember was my form being destroyed. But then I awoke, and I found myself locked in a room with the key laying next to me." She looked back in the direction she'd came. "I don't know what I just did, either. It just came to me naturally."

Topaz suddenly realized why Spinel seemed different. Along the places where her gem had been broken into pieces, there was gold. _From my tears,_ she realized, surprised. _I brought Spinel to life with my tears!_ And the gold was clearly having an effect on her appearance. Instead of just a red long-sleeved shirt, there was a golden star on the back. And the buttons on her jean shorts were gold. There was gold woven through her now long, french-braided hair.

It was also evident that she had new abilities, like the glowing light. But this Topaz could care less about. All she could think about was how happy she was that Spinel was alive again. "I love you," she said, with a smile as wide as could be, and she hugged Spinel.

"I love you too," Spinel said, returning the smile and the hug. "Now let's get this gem back home, shall we? I have a feeling we have plenty more to do."

While they were still locked in their embrace, the last streak of black disappeared from Topaz's gem.

 **The End**


End file.
